On book recommendations

 He was feeling "defeated" -until a curious TikToker turned things around. Now, he's Amazon's best selling author! We're intrigued with Leigh Howard and her adventures, and would love more!

Maybe you've already seen the viral TikTok video of author Shawn Warner, let down attempting to promote his book at a Texas grocery store. But one interested TikTok star approached him...and the rest is history. This heartwarming video boosted sales of Warner's debut novel "Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor" to #1 on Amazon nearly overnight! 

After hearing a recommendation of Warner's book from author Melanie Karsak, who I have mentioned on this blog(!) and reading the story of the viral TikTok, I wanted to see what it all was about. Seeing that it was free on Kindle, I borrowed it...but after reading the story for free, I just had to buy a physical copy and support the author. Wow! In many ways, "Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor" lives up to the hype. There are some critiques that I have, but overall the story was a very unique idea (ghosts with multiple personalities!) and tons of "I did NOT see that coming!" twists! This book was full of surprises, the unexpected, and overall adventure.

I do have to say that it features a teenage protagonist that struggles with self-harm and a suicide attempt (mentioned in hindsight) after the murder of her parents (also mentioned in hindsight.) Therefore, I would say to tread very carefully if any of this could be a trigger. Also, many reviews have pointed out that a better editing job could have been done. But overall, this is quite a story...and we see Leigh grow into a confident young woman. I'm going to say again, Mr. Warner has some unique ideas! Reading his bio, his life story is absolutely fascinating...he's a U.S. Army veteran (hooah 82nd Airborne!), an engineer, and a therapist, but now he's realizing his life-long dream...to become a writer.

I wish Mr. Warner all the luck in the world, and would love to read more from him. (Hint: I think that he could do great with period pieces! Victorian, Depression-era, etc.) We love Leigh!

Next up, we're squeeing over the wild adventures of Loki, Sigyn, and Odin in the "Nine Worlds Rising" series by Lyra Wolf. I don't regret buying the first installment in the series "Truth and Other Lies" off of her Etsy shop (marked down very low as a flawed "Loki" edition, although I honestly don't see the flaws!) I enjoyed it so much that I grabbed the second and third books in the series on Kindle Unlimited...and loved every bit of them! 

Loki is, as always, hilarious and reading him caused me to crack up plenty of times. However, the character that truly shines is Sigyn, the Goddess of Fidelity and Victory. Sigyn came to me for the first time last winter (believe me, she came in strong), and she's more or less been around since. Contrary to what many are led to believe at the very first, Sigyn is a very, very badass goddess. And...being the goddess of Victory, while she's not a complete front-lines warrior goddess, she absolutely will pick up a blade and fight if you give her the slightest reason to. And this book indeed shows that side of her! Sigyn, when we first meet her, is a mortal woman living in sixteenth-century Switzerland. She's incredibly skilled with a knife, and will never hesitate to show abusers who's boss! (In the portrait shown below, featuring Sigyn, Loki, and Odin, also designed by Lyra Wolf, Sigyn's complete resting bitch face never fails to crack me up!) 

I don't want to give too much away. But in the second installment of the series, Fenrir makes an appearance and he's...wait a minute, I don't want to ruin the surprise. All I am going to say is, the way that the great demonic wolf-god is portrayed is the most clever and unique idea ever! And the Volva (whom I believe is of the Voluspa fame) lives in-wait, I'm not spoiling that either.

Also needing a shout out is FREYA!!! I love her dearly and am close indeed with her...but the way that she was written in Book #3??? I couldn't keep a straight face. I was giggling the whole time reading the chapters on Freya! (Also, in said installment, we also see alternating viewpoints, and Sigyn's voice brings a lot to the table!) The author and I also apparently both see Sigyn and Angrboda the same ways; Sigyn being a tough goddess who seems sweet, Angrboda being a sweet goddess who seems tough.

Book 3 was also quite the edge, and the good news is that apparently the story will be continuing very soon! Can't wait for more.